Louisville's Dittmeier rolls his Sawdusters into Sportsmen's

In the landmark 1964 court case, Jacobellis v. Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart famously identified obscenity by uttering the since repeated line, “I know it when I see it.”

The same is becoming clear in the murky world of country music. But instead of calling on just their sight, listeners are depending on their ears to separate a conveyor belt full of costumed country charlatans from musicians credibly producing work emblematic of its genre’s forebears and tradition.

Thankfully, Nick Dittmeier & the Sawdusters fall under the latter distinction. The Louisville, Kentucky quartet—set to play at 8 p.m. March 24 inside Sportsmen’s Tavern (326 Amherst St.)—is the genuine article, void of fashionable trucker hats, Fireball-infused singles or tunes skewing closer to the catalog of Kelly Clarkson than Waylon Jennings. In their place are a locomotive instrumental pace and Dittmeier’s raw lyrics, representative of coal miners, lovestruck drifters and drug users.

These characters line the tracks of the band's latest album, last year’s “Midwest Heart/Southern Blues.” Full of the type of barroom rockers and bottle-tappers off its first two EPs, the work is ideal for fans that yearn for the original dusty-floor vibe of working class country—and will certainly find an applicable host inside the environs of Buffalo’s favorite roadhouse.